Reasonable Accommodations: New Jersey

This Reasonable Accommodations policy applies to employees in New Jersey under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD), including N.J. Stat. Ann. §§ 10:5-12 and 10:5-5, and explains how your organization will handle accommodation requests for disability, pregnancy and related medical conditions, religion, and other protected characteristics through a timely, good-faith interactive process. It's designed to help you set clear expectations for employees and managers, request and protect any supporting documentation appropriately, and reduce risk by reinforcing non-retaliation and consistent decision-making when an accommodation is requested or may be needed.

The History Behind Reasonable Accommodations Policies in New Jersey

Workplace accommodations in New Jersey grew out of a simple, practical idea: talent is wasted when workplaces are built for only one kind of person. The state put that idea into law through the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), first enacted in 1945 and later expanded well beyond its early focus. Over time, the LAD became one of the country's more employee-friendly civil rights statutes, and it pushed employers to treat accommodation as a real workplace obligation, not a favor or a one-off exception.

The LAD's accommodation story has a few distinct chapters. Disability protections developed alongside, and sometimes ahead of, federal law, with New Jersey requiring employers to engage with employees and applicants about adjustments that let them do the job, unless the request would create an undue hardship. Religion followed a similar path: if a schedule change, dress exception, or practice adjustment can work, New Jersey expects employers to try, not shrug. Then pregnancy moved from being treated like a "personal issue" to being recognized as a workplace reality, with New Jersey law and enforcement making clear that pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions can trigger accommodation duties, too.

What we like about the modern approach is that it forces a conversation. The LAD doesn't reward silence or guesswork; it rewards employers who respond, ask the right questions, and document the back-and-forth. That's why New Jersey employers tend to build policies around an interactive process, confidentiality, and anti-retaliation, because the legal risk usually isn't the initial request, it's the slow-walk, the brush-off, or the manager who treats an accommodation as a nuisance instead of a normal part of running a workplace.

Which Law is the Reasonable Accommodations Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Reasonable Accommodations Policy for your New Jersey-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with New Jersey's New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12) and related definitions under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (N.J.S.A. 10:5-5).

How to Write a New Jersey-Specific Reasonable Accommodations Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept by committing to an accessible, inclusive workplace and legal compliance.
• Define what your policy covers by listing the protected reasons accommodations may be requested.
• Explain how employees can request an accommodation.
• State that your organization may proactively inform employees about accommodation rights without requiring acceptance.
• Describe the interactive process as a good-faith dialogue to identify an effective accommodation or a workable alternative.
• Address limits by noting accommodations aren't required when they create undue hardship.
• Explain that you may request supporting documentation and will keep it confidential.
• Prohibit retaliation for requesting, using, or participating in the accommodation process.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer. 

Even when notice is not required, this is still the kind of policy most employers should put in their handbook or otherwise publish to employees. It answers a question employees will ask, sets expectations, and gives managers a consistent script. If you don't include it, you'll end up explaining it ad hoc, and that's when inconsistency, resentment, and accidental noncompliance shows up. 

Other Considerations

The law applies to New Jersey employers who have at least 1 employee in the US.

Exceptions

None